BNSF Seattle to Portland

[Oreius]

Is a very congested line. My scanner is going off frequently, and we’ve had to hold clearance. We were also following a freight that was putsying!

 

[Willbridge]

It's always busy but perhaps there is maintenance underway. Usually with double-track CTC they're able to go around slow freights.

 

[zephyr17]

It's always busy but perhaps there is maintenance underway. Usually with double-track CTC they're able to go around slow freights.

Yeah, a lot of the time it seems like trains I am on switch mains at almost every crossover to run around freights.

BNSF usually does a great job of handing Amtrak there.

 

[Maglev]

This is from Jan 26, 2017, aboard Cascades train 516:

We're now an hour and twenty minutes late. The conductor said we met 46 freight trains between Portland and Seattle. We stopped four times in the last mile before King Street Station. I will be arriving at my hotel in Bellingham after the front desk closes, so I will be using their late check-in procedure.

Sections of this line are now triple-tracked.

 

[zephyr17]

This is from Jan 26, 2017, aboard Cascades train 516:



Sections of this line are now triple-tracked.

Yeah, around the grain port in Kelso. Washington state paid for it.

 

[Willbridge]

Yeah, around the grain port in Kelso. Washington state paid for it.

Kalama is a grain port. I think of Kelso as a lumber town.

 

[zephyr17]

Yeah, its Kalama I was thinking of. Just south of Kelso, though.

 

[choochoodood]

Yeah, a lot of the time it seems like trains I am on switch mains at almost every crossover to run around freights.

BNSF usually does a great job of handing Amtrak there.

I've not had any delays when riding the Cascades. BNSF seems to do a great job with dispatching (unlike NS, which is abysmal).

 

[amtrakp42]

I've not had any delays when riding the Cascades. BNSF seems to do a great job with dispatching (unlike NS, which is abysmal).

I believe Amtrak took UP to federal court for not complying with the contract, and the judge made it a court order. If UP is found not conforming to the court order then someone from UP will be called to the court and if the judge isn't satisfied of situation then someone from UP may be jailed till court order is complied with. Sounds harsh, but Judges do have their ways!

 

[neroden]

I've not had any delays when riding the Cascades. BNSF seems to do a great job with dispatching (unlike NS, which is abysmal).

Yes... ....and I'm not really sure how we're going to get NS to comply. The evidence is that NS has created the problem in a nontraditional manner. Traditionally, dispatchers were instructed to illegally delay passenger trains; we know the procedure for stopping that with the courts, the STB, etc.

NS has simply ordered dispatchers to use a computer program and defer to the program, and the computer program is officially programmed to prioritize passenger trains, ***but the program is incompetent***. It's delaying freight as well as passengers. There's no specific law requiring a railroad to be *competent*. The STB has some generic powers which might be applied, but...

 

[zephyr17]

The STB has specific power now to measure and take action on passenger delay. The metrics are all passengers arriving at their destinations more than 15 minutes late, not trains arriving late at their terminals or specific intermediate points. The implementating regs and metrics went into effect in December 2020. The authority for the FRA and STB to enforce passenger delay measures was granted by PRIIA in 2008, but the railroads spent years litigating it (and lost).

 

[Cal]

This is from Jan 26, 2017, aboard Cascades train 516:



Sections of this line are now triple-tracked.

Wow. And I thought that line didn’t have too many freights. What do I know

 

[Chris I]

Wow. And I thought that line didn’t have too many freights. What do I know

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...=bfGaUembwA8&usg=AOvVaw0EfK9FeUMO2liHAnS_QSXf
Check out the Chehalis Railcam.

 

[Oreius]

Before Portland, the tracks travelled right down the median of I-5!! I thought it was weird—3 lanes of traffic on either side of the train!

 

[Willbridge]

Before Portland, the tracks travelled right down the median of I-5!! I thought it was weird—3 lanes of traffic on either side of the train!

I think that's because there wasn't room for the Interstate to be built entirely on one side of the long-existing rail line.

 

[Cal]

Before Portland, the tracks travelled right down the median of I-5!! I thought it was weird—3 lanes of traffic on either side of the train!

Have you seen Metrolink on the I-10?
\

Or the Texas Eagle just north of Austin?
(Go to 6:30 of this video)

 

[joelkfla]

Have you seen Metrolink on the I-10?
View attachment 24509\

Or the Texas Eagle just north of Austin?
(Go to 6:30 of this video)

Also several Chicago "L" lines, built during the 1950's or '60's, I think.



And I believe plans still call for Brightline to run down the I-4 median to Tampa.

 

[Willbridge]

Also several Chicago "L" lines, built during the 1950's or '60's, I think.
View attachment 24510


And I believe plans still call for Brightline to run down the I-4 median to Tampa.

I'm open to correction but my understanding is that a separate city department builds transport infrastructure, keeping CTA's hands clean. That leads to the idea of joint highway-rail projects.